1812 in Scotland
{{Short description|none}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2016}}
{{Year in Scotland| 1812 }}
Events from the year 1812 in Scotland.
Incumbents
{{further|Politics of Scotland|Order of precedence in Scotland}}
= Law officers =
= Judiciary =
Events
- 1 January – Tron riot in Edinburgh concludes.
- March – meeting in Edinburgh to discuss formation of the Scottish Widows Fund and Life Assurance Society.
- 6 July – the Kilmarnock and Troon Railway becomes the first public railway line to open in Scotland. It begins life as a 9.5-mile (16-kilometre), horse-drawn waggonway to carry coal from Kilmarnock to Troon harbour.{{cite book|author=Robertson, C. J. A.|year=1983|title=The Origins of the Scottish Railway System 1722–1844|location=Edinburgh|publisher=John Donald Publishers|isbn=0-85976-088-X}} On 27 June the horse-drawn passenger coach Caledonia began running over the line between Troon and Gargieston, near Kilmarnock.Air Advertiser [sic.] advertisement dated 25 June 1812.
- 12 July (The Twelfth) – first Protestant Orange march in Scotland held in Glasgow, attracting hostile Catholic crowds.{{cite book|last=Booker|first=Ronnie Michael|url=http://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1823&context=utk_graddiss|title=Orange Alba: The Civil Religion of Loyalism in the Southwestern Lowlands of Scotland since 1798|location=Knoxville|publisher=University of Tennessee|year=2010|access-date=2014-08-29|pages=45–6}}
- August – Henry Bell's {{PS|Comet}} begins a passenger service on the River Clyde between Glasgow and Greenock, the first commercially successful steamboat service in Europe.{{cite book|title=Clyde Pleasure Steamers|first=Ian|last=McCrorie|publisher=Orr, Pollock & Co. Ltd|location=Greenock|isbn=1-869850-00-9|year=1986}}
- November – first bridge at Bonar Bridge completed in cast iron to the design of Thomas Telford.
- Ongoing – Highland Clearances.
- Nelson's Tower completed in Forres as a monument to Lord Nelson.{{cite web|title=Forres, Cluny Hills, Nelson's Monument|url=https://canmore.org.uk/site/15864/forres-cluny-hills-nelsons-monument|work=Canmore|publisher=Historic Environment Scotland|accessdate=2022-04-02}}
- Brackla distillery built by Captain William Fraser of Brackla House on the estate of Cawdor Castle.
- Glasgow Bible Society established.
- Gaelic chapel opens in London.
Births
- 3 February – William Fraser Tolmie, scientist and politician in Canada (died 1886 in Canada)
- 29 February – James Milne Wilson, Premier of Tasmania (died 29 February 1880 in Tasmania)
- 26 March (probable date) – Charles Mackay, writer (died 1889)
- 4 April – George Grub, church historian (died 1892)
- 27 May – Robert Stirling Newall, engineer and astronomer (died 1889)
- 3 June – Norman Macleod, Church of Scotland minister (died 1872)
- 2 September – Kirkpatrick Macmillan, inventor of the bicycle (died 1878)
- 23 December – Samuel Smiles, author and reformer (died 1904)
Deaths
- 23 January – Robert Craufurd, general (mortally wounded during Peninsular War) (born 1764)
- 14 May – Duncan Ban MacIntyre, Gaelic poet (born 1724)
The arts
- William Tennant's ottava rima mock-heroic poem Anster Fair is published, the first use of this Italian style in Britain.{{cite book|title=The Harmsworth Encyclopedia|year=1905}}